Ready, Set … Go!

Copyright 2009 Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists. All content in the Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy is copyrighted by the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacy. In submitting their manuscripts, the authors transfer, assign, and otherwise convey all copyright ownership to CSHP.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

—Aristotle

Reflecting on my 3 years as a presidential officer and Vision Liaison for CSHP, I am proud of the accomplishments we have achieved but even prouder of the foundation we have created for great things to come for the profession of hospital pharmacy.

Vision 2010 has CSHP advocating for hospital pharmacists through various avenues, including national campaigns and the provision of support to the branches for both proactive and reactive advocacy efforts. We are being invited to participate and consequently influence important decisions that will affect our patients. CSHP truly is the influential voice of hospital pharmacists! As a strong, sustainable, and dynamic society, CSHP is constantly striving to strengthen, develop, and enhance member services. We foster leadership and professional growth through educational conferences, but also through Council involvement, our volunteer committee structure, the work of the Hospital Pharmacy Management Leadership Task Force, and the branches of CSHP. I truly believe that the connection with and support of our members through our branches are the secrets to CSHP’s success. We are ready …

CSHP continues its quest to inspire practice excellence through the CSHP 2015 initiative. In 3 short years we have created CSHP 2015, revised it, and introduced it to our members through various means of communication (national and branch presentations, e-nnouncements, online and print documents, and posters). The lively and controversial discussions that this pharmacy practice initiative has stimulated among our members confirm that change is difficult. But change forces us to reflect on how we care for our patients and how we could do it better! The self-assessment tool1 will help you to determine how your current pharmacy practice aligns with CSHP 2015. We didn’t create a catchier name than CSHP 2015, but we do have a rather attractive and eye-catching logo!

Barbara Wells has been hired as the Program Coordinator for CSHP 2015, and a steering committee has been struck. Baseline data for the CSHP 2015 objectives have been obtained through the 2007/2008 Hospital Pharmacy in Canada Survey.2 Sponsorship and funding will be sought to support ongoing activities. A “Canadian crosswalk” will link the CSHP 2015 objectives with evidence in the literature, national and international pharmacy practice and patient safety statements and initiatives, and the health priorities of other national and provincial organizations. We are ready and we are set …

CSHP has a very sound foundation to assist members with their quest for pharmacy practice excellence by 2015. We have what we need, we know where we are, and we know where we want to go. Do we have a roadmap, GPS unit, or protocol to show us how to achieve those targets? No. But we do have the leadership, commitment, and support that we need to encourage, guide, and define what the goals and targets should be. We have the means to promote and share success stories, including the 2 regional CSHP 2015 “collaboratives”, in Atlantic and Western Canada. We have partners to help collect the data to measure our progress. But most important of all, we have the pharmacists who are ready to go! In fact, many left the gate a long time ago, unintimidated by the absence of a roadmap—they are creating their own! That’s what pharmacists do extremely well. As Aristotle said, excellence is a habit we must create, and repetition creates habit. With leadership and guidance we will steer ourselves to pharmacy practice excellence in 2015!

I thank you for the privilege of being part of this historic initiative in hospital pharmacy practice. I can’t wait to see where it takes us!